


Family Ties

by bunchajokers



Category: Stella Glow
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26957563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunchajokers/pseuds/bunchajokers
Summary: Mordimort learns she has more in common with Keith than she realised...or ever hoped to admit.Spoilers for Chapter 5 & Keith’s free time events.
Kudos: 4





	Family Ties

Alto sighed. “You have more in common with him than you realise, you know.”

Across the room sat Keith, who was alone at a table absolutely laden in papers. Not many members of the Regnant Knights had the patience to see sense in Keith’s nonsense but after much headache, Alto had begun to see the method behind the madness.

Stubborn as ever, Mordimort lightly shook her head with a lifeless expression plastered across her face. “No… Keith could never.. understand me..” She shuffled uncomfortably. She hadn't the slightest idea what Alto was implying but the thought of relating to _him_ in any way was absurd. She didn't want to be near Keith, let alone think he was like her in any way.

He lowered his voice, leaning in slightly. “Don't you think he's ever been through hardships of his own?” With getting to know Mordi, he had learnt that nothing good comes from coddling her so naturally facing her with difficult topics was the better route sometimes. 

Other than Alto, nobody understood Keith. He was an oddball of sorts, easy to poke fun at but not entertaining enough for anyone in the group to hang around outside of work. It's not like he was even a real part of the Regnant Knights, he was only sticking around to watch over Mordimort to pay off his remaining debts, much to her dismay.

Mordi’s immediate reaction was to close up. Even if he _had_ been through his own hardships, there's still no way he could know how she felt. Nobody could ever understand her bond with Nikki, nor the pain she faced through losing her sister. Sure, it was true that Keith had known about Nikki, and he had vowed to look after Mordi, but she couldn't accept that he could _truly_ understand how she felt.

Even if he had let her live a lie, standing by as she had constructed her own bubble to cope, even if he had played along and not let any outsiders in on the fact that the residents of her little camp - Nikki included - were actually created by herself, even if he had taken years out of his life to protect her, and was continuing to do so even after she insisted that she was safe with the Regnant Knights and she didn't even want him around anymore..

Mordimort sank down in her seat, pouting to herself. Alto could only watch, he didn't mean to make her feel bad but she did often give Keith a hard time, even if his personality did have its quirks.

With a wretched screech that came from chair legs being pushed against the hard floor, Keith rose to his feet and Mordi physically recoiled.

“Hey Keith! Where you off to?” Alto chirped across the room.

He pushed up his glasses before gathering up his array of papers. “Scouting.” His voice bellowed through the banquet hall, much too loud for the early morning. “It's looking to be a nice day out, no better time to continue the search of where the grand Keith Kingdom shall stand, no?”

“Right, right.” Alto nodded as he cast his gaze to Mordimort, who looked as if she was sinking herself down to avoid being seen by the other man. Keith likely already knew she was there, he was incredibly perspective after all. Alto lowered his voice, leaning towards her. “Look, Mordi.. why don't you go with him?”

Disgust completely enveloped her face, but much to Alto’s surprise she shuffled herself back into an acceptable sitting position and took a moment before clenching her fists as if to power herself up. “Um.. Keith..!”

He barely reacted, stuffing his belongings into a satchel which he was able to securely attach to his belt. “What is it, Mordi?” Keith’s mannerisms often came across as serious and aloof but Alto sensed that he was somewhat fond of her given the fact that he also regularly used her nickname.

Mordimort fidgeted, looking to Alto for reassurance who simply nodded when their gazes met. She grumbled, reluctantly looking back in Keith’s general direction. “Can I.. join you? Want to.. get out mor…” She was barely loud enough, and thanks to the silence she was met with she was uncertain if he had actually heard her, but thankfully she wasn't left hanging.

By this point, Keith was just about ready to leave. Satchel and his prized knife strapped to his belt, cape securely fastened, glasses pushed way too far up his nose, awful thigh high boots laced up.. Mordimort despised his stupid outfit, almost as much as she despised Keith himself. “I suppose.” He replied plainly. “If you're ready to return to Mujabalaar then perhaps we can..” He cut it short, seeing her utter despair in reaction to the suggestion.

“Fine..! I'm.. fine..” She rose to her feet, noisily, in the same manner Keith had previously. She dragged her feet over to the doorway to join him, not looking back to Alto who was already worrying on her behalf.

“Look out for her, okay? Please, Keith..” In that moment he had considered accompanying them but perhaps it was for the best that the two of them go to speak alone, he couldn't recall the last time he had seen just the two of them together. Had she really been avoiding him since they both joined their motley crew..?

Keith put his hand on his hip, opening the door as he stared down Alto. “Don't forget our history, Citizen Two. She'll be safe in the hands of the King.” Before Alto had the chance to attempt to lecture him about how taking Mordimort back into the desert likely _wasn't_ a good idea considering her wellbeing, they had both left without another word.  


* * *

Their journey out to the desert had been as silent as their departure. Keith always strode with confidence, which was probably needed to get away with publicly dressing the way he did. Mordi kept to his shadow, scuttling in such a way that she kept close on his trail but in a way as to not get caught up in his cape.

As always, the Mujabalaar desert was unchanging. The same ocean of orange sand that the two of them had lived amongst for years, only this time the sand was all there was. No tents, no familiar faces, no Kashmistan..

Mordimort wondered how exactly he planned to scan a perfect location for his.. nonsense. 

“Do you know _why_ I’m building my kingdom, Mordi?”

She didn't. She had never bothered to ask nor did she particularly care, on that note she really didn't know anything about Keith. She knew he was to look out for her for long enough to pay off his knife but.. “Cus.. you're stupid..” She grumbled under her breath.

“For my sister.” He promptly corrected her. 

“Didn't know you had one..”

Mordimort watched him as he paced back and forth, obviously trying to look quizzical but in reality looking.. troubled? She kept a firm gaze on him and was surprised to see him come to a sudden stop with his back turned to her. His cape lay flat against him with there being no breeze in the desert, something they were both thankful for as the sand which got lofted was a pain to wash from their hair, and everywhere else it lodged itself.

“Alto saw the earliest plans for my Kingdom once. Without my permission, of course.” Keith began in a loud telling voice. “He said they looked as if a child had drawn them.”

Mordi groaned, she didn’t _care_. She didn't care about his so-called kingdom that was never going to happen, she didn't care about what anyone else thought about it. At this point she was wondering why she had even come. 

“I lost my sister some time ago, she was weak and sickly.” He said bluntly. She couldn't read his emotions with his back turned but she had never known Keith to get upset, nor to show much emotion in general for that matter. “It was her dream to create the ideal country, so I used her old drawings as a base.”

“Keith..” Mordi frowned, but he ignored her and continued.

“As King I always carry out my duties, and that means I shall not stop until the Keith Kingdom is a reality. It was her dream, so..” He hadn't moved since his explaination began so Mordi was still unable to tell how he was feeling but she had begun to feel slightly guilty, maybe Alto had been right after all. “I won't let Citizen Number One down.”

After a brief silence, Keith slowly turned to face Mordi whose lips were trembling. His eyes widened in an instant and strode towards her to instinctively comfort her somehow but found himself stopping a few paces before her.

“No need to be sad!” He forced a smile. “I said the same to Alto but this isn't a sob story. I'm fulfilling my younger sister’s wishes. It's good to have clear set motivation to carry on.”

She nodded, screwing up her face in her best attempt not to weep. “Sorry..” Barely audible, but an apology that Keith heard nonetheless. “..for not taking.. Keith Kingdom.. seriously..”

Much to her surprise, she was met with a bellow. The man had put his hands on his hips and though to her it felt somewhat forced, he had a shining grin on his face. “ _Nobody_ takes it seriously, young Mordi. I am parading around as a King, determined to create my own Kingdom, aptly named after myself. I am not offended by anyone's lack of understanding, nor do I care at their lack of attempt to understand.” His face softened, placing a firm gloved hand atop her head and softly ruffled her hair. “If you would like to become Citizen Number Three then I would gladly oblige.”

“Three..?” Mordi stared at the ground, not quite sure of what she assumed was meant to be a comforting gesture.

“Yes, Three. My sister is One, and Alto is Two.” Having sensed her displeasure, he retracted his hand.

“No.. want to be a Four..”

Keith arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean four? Including you there would only be three citizens of the Keith Kingdom, I'm going in numerical order, Mordi.”

“Nikki..” She fiddled with the fabric of her outfit and took a sharp breath. “Nikki can be Three.. then I’m Four..” Gaze still cast to the ground, droplets began to form around her eyes and one by one started falling to the ground, immediately becoming lost in the sand. She balled up her fists and pressed them into her eyes, trying her hardest to breath steadily.

“Of course, Nikki is a welcome member of the Keith Kingdom too.” Though usually loud and clear spoken, he had lowered his tone to a surprisingly soft low level. He reached out a hand to pat her shoulder, but immediately thought better of it. “Mordi, can I..”

She simply nodded in response, to which he took a careful step towards her and wrapped her into a hug. She leaned into him, simply letting her arms hang by her sides but somehow appreciating the gesture nonetheless. She couldn't remember the last time she had hugged a real person, not since the day she lost Nikki. She rested her forehead against Keith’s awful excuse of a top and steadied her breathing.

“You know, I bet she's real proud of you, Mordi.” Keith kept his voice soft and low, arms wound tightly around her but not in such a way to make her feel claustrophobic. “You've come a long way.”

“Right..” She grumbled, deciding she’d had enough of being wrapped up in the arms of the world’s most annoying mercenary. With the smallest amount of resistance, he promptly loosened his grip and let her free. “Your sis too..” She nodded, casting her gaze aside.

He cleared his throat in response, dramatically turning in such a way that made his cape elevate with flourish. Mordi supposed it was to suppress any emotion that had welled up inside of him from discussing what he probably rarely gets to talk about, but she tried not to think too much of it. She simply watched as the man resumed his needless scoping.

“There's too much _sand _here, Mordi.” His loud comical complaint struck a brief smile from the corner of her lips, but the weight of their conversation had rendered her rather emotionless.__

__“What did you expect, mor..on..” Once again, a bellow of a likely somewhat forced laugh escaped his mouth in response._ _

__“I didn't think you would come if I was headed elsewhere.” He turned to face her again, this time with a more serious expression. His eyes immediately locked onto hers. “I could hear Alto talking to you. I know he dotes on you, but I know you well enough to see the error in his ways at times.. so, don't be afraid to rely on the King every now and then.”_ _

__Mordimort simply nodded with a plain expression on her face. In theory, it should have been obvious to her that she could go to Keith with anything, he had been there for her for so long and in theory he really was the closest thing she had to family now. Sure, she was close to Alto but she didn't exactly have the same bond with him as she did with Keith, even if he really did get on her nerves at the best of times._ _

__“Keith..” As always, she said his name with such a fed up groan to it, which always immediately drew his attention. “I don't.. want to be here.. anymor..”_ _

__“Ah! Of course, let us head back at once.” He promptly ensured all of his possessions were secured to his person, and with no warning, began striding back in the direction of the Capital, much to the surprise of Mordimort who almost tripped over her own feet in attempts to once again follow behind him without either getting slapped by, or stepping on that hideous cape of his._ _

__“Slow.. down… Keith..”_ _


End file.
